Reference is made to commonly assigned copending patents U.S. Pat. No. 6,468,722 issued Oct. 22, 2000, entitled a PHOTOFINISHING PROCESSING SYSTEM AND A PROCESSING SOLUTION SUPPLY CARTRIDGE FOR THE PROCESSING SYSTEM and U.S. Pat. No. 6,520,693 issued Feb. 18, 2003, entitled a METHOD OF PROVIDING PHOTOPROCESSING SERVICES.
The present invention relates to a photographic processing system and method of operating a photographic processing system in accordance with specified eco-efficiency properties.
Eco-efficiency, as defined by the World Business Council on Sustainable Development (WBCSD), Measuring eco-efficiency: A guide to reporting company performance, June 2000, relates to the concept of delivering more value from lower inputs of materials and energy and with reduced emissions. Therefore, eco-efficient products should be designed to provide more function to the user with less environmental impact than comparable products.
Growing customer awareness of environmental issues, particularly in Japan and Northern Europe, is creating incentives for companies to consider the environmental performance of products during design. While generally not the primary factor in purchasing decisions, environmental performance can differentiate products with similar features, cost and reliability. In addition, reductions in material and energy use can produce direct economic benefits to both manufacturers and customers.
Because eco-efficiency is an emerging issue, approaches to measure eco-efficiencies have varied widely. In response to the disparity of measurement approaches, the WBCSD established a standard eco-efficiency measurement framework in June 2000. This framework is most applicable to gauging the eco-efficiency of organizations. With respect to products, the WBCSD states that there are no indicators that can be applied broadly across product categories for the environmental influence of product use; rather, product specific indicators are necessary.
In designing photographic processors, the amount of material and/or energy consumed generally relates to the following parameters: the use and/or consumption of chemistry; the use and/or consumption of water; the use and/or consumption of packaging material; and the use and/or consumption of energy per roll or unit amount of photographic material or film processed. Known processors generally take into account a single one of the above parameters with respect to the efficient operation of the processor. This may not necessarily lead to a more eco-efficient processor since a processor which is designed to use less chemistry may have increased water consumption, increased packaging material use and increased energy use. Further, a processor which is designed to use less energy, may have an increased use of chemistry, water and packaging material.
As an example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,290,404 describes a processing system which provides for an efficient use of energy by using sources of heat such as electrical, electro-mechanical and mechanical components in a processor.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,383,727 provides for an efficient use of water within a photoprocessor by recovering water from humid air sources within the processing system and reusing the water in the processing system.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,784,661 provides for a high capacity low volume processor in which an outer tank and inner rack provide for a thin processing path. The arrangement of U.S. Pat. No. 5,784,661 provides for a low volume processor.
Pending U.S. application Ser. No. 09/823,076 discloses a method of providing photoprocessing services in which the packaging system for supplying solutions to a photofinishing site can be used during several usage cycles and refurbished until the integrity of the system begins to decrease. This provides an example of an efficient use of packaging material in a photoprocessor. A further method of providing photoprocessing services which includes supplying and removing processing liquids is described in Agfa, Research Disclosure No. 408110 to Verlinden et al.
As noted above, systems and methods described in the above patents and application are designed so as to account for a single parameter of the various parameters noted above that are relevant for an eco-efficient processor. More specifically, there are no known systems which take into account the interrelationship of all of the above parameters for operating a film processing system, and more specifically, the interrelationship between chemistry consumption, water consumption, packaging material consumption and energy consumption. It is noted that the nature of the relationships between the above parameters is complex and may vary on a case by case basis due to the staggering number of factors that contribute to an overall system design. An improvement in any one category may have a deleterious impact on others.
The present invention provides for a fully-automated photographic processor and a method of processing photographic material in accordance with a specified eco-efficiency property that takes into account the use and/or consumption of chemistry, the use and/or consumption of water, the use and/or consumption of packaging materials and the use and/or consumption of energy per roll or unit amount of photographic material processed in the photographic processor, and therefore takes into account the inter-relationship between each of the above-noted parameters.
The method and photographic processor of the present invention builds upon the eco-efficiency framework established by the WBCSD by defining a film processor eco-efficiency index (FPEI) that can be applied specifically to the product category of fully-automated color film processors. The FPEI enables consideration and improvement of eco-efficiency during film processor conception and design.
The photographic processor of the present invention comprises one or more of the following attributes (a) minimization of the mass and/or volume of photochemical solution or chemistry that is heated by the processor; (b) intelligent energy management of the electrical components of the processor; (c) simplification of the processor design to minimize power consumption; (d) minimization of the time required to process the film; (e) recovery of waste heat produced during operation of the processor, and (f) recovery and re-use of water evaporated during operation of the processor. Inclusion of these attributes results in a desired FPEI which defines an eco-efficient photographic processor.
The present invention therefore provides for a processing system for processing photographic material which comprises a photographic processor; and a solution supply system adapted to supply at least one of a chemical processing solution or water to the photographic processor to process photographic film.
In the system of the present invention, an eco-efficiency index based on an average consumption of water, chemistry, packaging material and energy per unit amount of photographic film processed in the photographic processor is based on the following equation number (1):
FPEI={(WTref/WTact)+(CHref/CHact)+(PKref/PKact)+(ENref/ENact)}/4.xe2x80x83xe2x80x83(1)
The terms in the above-noted equation (1) are defined as follows:
FPEI=an eco-efficiency index for the photographic processor;
WTref=a reference amount of water needed to develop a unit amount of film;
WTact=an actual amount of water consumed per unit amount of film developed in the photographic processor;
CHref=a reference amount of chemistry needed to develop the unit amount of film;
CHact=an actual amount of chemistry consumed per unit amount of film developed in the photographic processor;
PKref=a reference amount of packaging material needed to develop the unit amount of film;
PKact=an actual amount of packaging material consumed per unit amount of film developed in the photographic processor;
ENref=a reference amount of energy needed to develop the unit mount of film; and
ENact=an actual amount of energy consumed per unit amount of film developed in the photographic processor.
The present invention also relates to a method of operating a photographic processing system which comprises the step of monitoring an eco-efficiency index based on an average consumption of water, chemistry, packaging material and energy per unit amount of photographic film processed in a photographic processor of the processing system based on equation (1) noted above.
Within the context of the present invention, a unit amount of film developed preferably refers to a roll of film. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and it is noted that a unit amount could refer to multiple rolls of film spliced together to form a batch.